2001 Kia Carnival LE
Summary:
Crap, crap and more crap!
Faults:
4 months after buying car, transmission needed replacing, even though we were sold the vehicle under the assumption that a whole new engine had gone into it, along with new transmission. This turned out to be false. Fought tooth and nail and dealer did it under warranty. 'Courtesy car' from dealer, over Easter long weekend, was a 1980 Mits Magna, filthy, filled with dog hair, and rattled whenever you pulled up to traffic lights. 'Courtesy Car' stopped working on Easter Monday and had to be towed to dealer on Tuesday. T.
Few months later and vehicle overheated driving down the freeway. Vehicle towed to dealer, sent on to Kia and surprise, surprise, head gasket gone. AFter much investigation, we secured papers from previous owner to find out that head gaskets had gone on vehicle only a month before we purchased it. Almost 4 weeks later, after much chasing up by ourselves to dealer and Kia workshop, car was ready to be returned. No offer of any assistance or courtesy car etc. I was stuck with 3 young children, one of whom was only 6 months old, and no vehicle - yet again!
Before picking up vehicle, the dealer had the nerve to say that as the vehicle was due for its standard 'Harrier Warranty' service prior to it overheating and receiving new heads etc, in order to keep my warranty in place, the vehicle would still require servicing! What a joke!
We had to fork out money for towing, spark plugs, timing belt, leads etc, even though this was a known problem with these Kia models.
1 week after picking up vehicle, car lost power coming up a slight incline. Vehicle vibrating heavily and strong smell of burning / heat. Temp gauge had risen. More spark plugs/ leads needed replacing!
Just over 12 months after this happens, vehicle overheats AGAIN! Apparently the core of the radiator has magically eroded, causing a hole and causing head gaskets AGAIN to blow! This time, no warranty as apparently it was caused by the radiator. How does a radiators core erode??? This time, $3656 AUD we had to pay. Drove the car 3 hours south of Perth over the weekened, temp gauge starts rising again on return home. Hubbie checks coolant, barely nothing in there. We've gone through 6 litres of coolant in 4 days, yet Kia tells us nothing is wrong!
Absolutely had enough and now just want to get rid of it. Went to trade it in this week, another dealer looks at it, unscrews the cap of the motor and surprise, surprise, filled with gunk! Kia was phoned and again, nothing wrong with it - that's normal after having had major works done to it.
Is it???
We did find out last year that the bottom half of the motor had been replaced when head gaskets went the first time. If all of this is a known problem to KIa, should they have replaced the whole motor? Can somebody with a bit of knowledge please explain!
NEVER, EVER AGAIN...
General Comments:
Mechanically - crap!
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 25th October, 2006
28th Nov 2006, 08:50
I believe your biggest problem was your dealer and not your car. The wrong mix of anti-freeze will cause your radiator to corrode from inside. Modern anti-freeze has anti corrosion inhibitors inside, so the dealers explanation points to a lack of antifreeze or a weak mixture when the coolant was replaced after changing the head gasket. As a word of warning please pay more attention to the service book. Any major work should be documented and easily checked by talking to the service personel. Salesmen are not the most reliable source for technical help.